Frankly I procrastinated on this blog post because I felt closeted about my love for Hamilton. The musical, not the person. As a history buff and socialist, my husband can’t stand its existence and rolls his eyes if he gets even a whiff of the soundtrack. Now that I’ve come to acknowledge his truth, I can focus on mine… sharing my favorite concepts from Lin Manuel Miranda’s masterpiece.
- The World Was Wide Enough [song] – Even thinking about approaching life with a scarcity mindset gives me anxiety, but we do it all the time. While many consumable resources are genuinely limited, opportunities are not. Put pride and ego aside to practice an abundance mindset. How are you making space and giving to others? How can you share a leadership opportunity and collaborate instead of compete?
- Teach ‘Em How to Say Goodbye [song] – Again, set pride and ego aside and accept that you will never have a clone, so stop being a control freak. Encourage knowledge transfer and help successors learn from your mistakes instead of acting like your indefinite tyranny is necessary to the team or organization. I suppose this could also relate to children living in the shadow of their guardians, but that’s another conversation.
- Legacy is Planting Seeds in a Garden You Never Get to See [song] – Thinking about your leadership “term” or “sprint” as a silo will always limit results. Making yourself look good may be different than doing what’s best for an organization in the long run, so reframe or rethink the legacy you’re trying to establish. Pay it forward and build up leaders other than yourself. Will your legacy be net positive or net destructive or something in between?
Believe it or not, this blog post wasn’t originally about leadership, but as I started detailing each takeaway, that theme tied it all together. I guess it’s one reason I enjoy Hamilton so much… it’s so relevant. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the artful allusions to immigrant contributions, but I’m not the best person to talk about that.
Did you love Hamilton the Musical? What were your own takeaways? Or perhaps you didn’t enjoy the show. Either way, post in the comments below!